Top 10 world's richest people 2013: Forbes

On the heels of its China-based rival Hurun Research Institute, who published its Global Rich List on Friday, Forbes Magazine unveiled its version of the planet’s richest people in 2013 only three days later.

According to the Forbes ranking, the 27th of its kind, the world now has a record high number of 1426 billionaires, with a combined wealth of 5.4 trillion US dollars, while Hurun put the global count at 1,453.

The two lists both placed 73-year-old Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico on the top spot, but gave different numbers on his wealth with Forbes estimating it at 73 billion US dollars and Hurun at 66 billion. This is Helu’s fourth time in a row to top the Forbes list.

While Bill Gates remained as the second richest, Warren Buffett slipped one place this year to a fourth spot, marking the first time for the investment guru to drop out of the top three, despite an increase of 9.5 billion US dollars in personal wealth. He was replaced by founder of fashion brand Zara Amancio Ortega.

Among all the billionaires, 961 are self-made with rags to riches experiences, whereas a mere 184 inherited their wealth.

The United States is still home to the largest number of billionaires in the world, with about one third of the world’s billionaires and 37 percent of their wealth coming from the country, while China came in second with a much lower number of 187 (including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan).

Regionally, Asia Pacific has 386 billionaires with a combined net worth of 1.16 trillion US dollars, up significantly from last year’s 961 billion. The 366 billionaires in Europe possess 1.55 trillion US dollars, up by 260 billion year on year. The Middle East and Africa together created 106 billionaires with their combined wealth standing at 279 billion yuan, an increase from last year’s 231 billion yuan.

A total of 138 women made their way onto the Forbes list, including 50 from the United States, 35 from Europe and 22 from Asia and the Pacific region.

In terms of industries, the retail sector overwhelmingly outweighs the other 23 industries by giving rise to 167 billionaires worth 856 billion US dollars in total, according to Forbes, while Hurun ranked real estate as the No.1 source of wealth.

Dustin Moskovitz, the 28-year-old Facebook co-founder who now runs software application developer Asana, is the youngest billionaire on earth, ranking 353 with a personal fortune of 3.8 billion US dollars. 97-year-old business legend David Rockefeller is the oldest on the list, ranking 527 with 2.7 billion US dollars.

Following are the top 10 richest people in the world on Forbes' 2013 billionaire list: